Recall, close call, cranes, caves , a blimp & Mexico: Dawdling in Southern Arizona

The Recall:  We departed Tucson on Tuesday, December 29th with the intention of exploring more of the area outside the city and dawdling a while longer in the area to see if the parts needed to repair an issue with our RV would arrive.  The recall, issued November 25th by Winnebago, involved the propane gas system on our model and we'd been advised to disconnect the gas and seek to get it fixed.  Since the RV is now our "house" and we hadn't noticed a problem, we chose to continue using our propane system, but immediately endeavored to get the part.   This is the 'whine' part of the story - because when the Winnebago company issued the recall they didn't have the replacement parts needed to send out to the dealers/service providers in the USA.  This is apparently not an unusual situation for various vehicle (and other?) manufacturers, however, it sure puts the consumer in a very uncomfortable situation.  We started trying to get the part sent and replaced since the recall notice -- and finally, the Tucson RV dealer called us last week - just after we left the city, to announce the part had arrived.  The dealer couldn't squeeze us into their busy schedule until January 6th and we made the decision to stay at a nice RV park outside Huachuca City.  We rented a car for a week and managed to fill our days wandering around this area.

The Close Call:  Before leaving Tucson, our son, Jay, insisted we use his propane heater as the temperatures continue to be very cold in the mornings here.  In lieu of using our own furnace, we'd been using a small electric heater which helped keep the temperatures inside "Tiny Tin" around 60 degrees when we'd wake in the morning.  Anyway, we went to bed around 9pm that night and were rudely awakened by the blaring of our carbon monoxide alarm, telling us to get the heck out of the RV!   We turned off the propane heater, opened windows to air out the RV.  When we'd settled down, we started giggling about how Jay must have been plotting to get his share of our 'wealth'.  He denied it the next night and told us he and others had safely used that same heater inside tents and houses... We reminded him we're spending his inheritance and we were grateful for the noisy CO alarm!

Cranes:  One of our day trips in the rental car was to the Whitewater Wash Wildlife Refuge east of here.  The Sandhill Cranes stop there to rest and feed in the winter as part of their migratory pattern.  After driving along a mostly deserted highway then country roads, we were rewarded with seeing 1000's of these beautiful birds.  

Blimp:  Each morning since our arrival in Huachuca City, which is just a few miles north of (US Army) Fort Huachuca and the community of Sierra Vista, there has been a big blimp over the community and the Huchuca mountains.  We learned it is part of the drug interdiction strategy.  We're not sure if it's part of the military's operation or the DEA or ??, but it became our landmark.  

Caves: A neighbor in Olympia suggested we see the Kartchner Caverns.  I'm not a fan of caves and we had chosen to ignore this state park when we stayed in Tombstone and Bisbee.  Well, being only 10 miles south of the Caverns and plenty of time on our hands, we visited the Caverns and both of us were delighted with our tour.  The Kartchner Caverns are one of very few 'living' caves and was discovered only in 1974.  The AZ State Parks have done an amazing job of making the Caverns available to the public, carefully controlling the caves' environment and enforcing rules to make sure it remains living.  Cameras (cell phones, water, etc.) are not allowed in the Caverns, so we have no photos to share.  The other surprise to us was the warm and humid temperature inside the caverns.  We had to put our jackets back on once we completed our tour.

Mexico:  One of our day trips took us down Highway 83, with beautiful and varying scenery to the border town of Nogales.  We had wanted to park the rental car and walk across the border - mostly just to explore for a short while.  Unfortunately, Jim had left his wallet and ID in the RV, so we agreed to try to put our toes into Mexico on another day.  This time, we chose to cross at the very small town of Naco, just south of Bisbee.  We parked the rental car on the US side and walked across the border.  The US and Mexican towns of Naco were both poor and lacking any charm.  At least in Mexican Naco there were shops:  We saw a number of pharmacies and a couple of bars, a grocery store and a few other businesses.  In the USA's Naco, there was one bar in operation in the entire little town.  It was a disappointing venture that lasted perhaps 20 minutes as we walked through the little dusty town.  We did, however, get our passports stamped - our only souvenir.